Coming Alive in August

Kaitlin's POV:

Rocco relaxes himself in my tote bag and goes back to sleep. I glance over at Ryan as we walk toward the entrance of the police station. He opens the door for me and places his hand on the small of my back pushing me forward slightly. This was the last place I would have thought Claudia would call me from. She didn't hints towards anything as to why she was here. My guess is something had to have happened at the baseball game. Maybe someone dissed Fall Out Boy and Joe attacked them. I can see that happened.

Claudia is sitting on a bench in the station with her face in her hands. I hurry over to her and sit down. I put my arms around her and hug her tightly. "Is everything alright?" I ask her softly. She lifts her head up and looks at me.

She nods and I release my arms from her. She stands up and looks over to Ryan then back at me. "Did you two have a good day?" she asks.

"Who cares about us, why are you here?" I ask standing up. A door opens and I look to see Joe led out of a room by an officer. They exchange a few words then the officer leaves Joe and Joe comes over to us. I grab onto Ryan's arm and pull me close to me. His eyes search me as I try to figure out the right thing to say. "Uh, bring Claudia outside and talk to her. I'll talk to Joe, alright?" I look up at him with puppy dog eyes.

He smirks and licks his lips. "If you promise to sleep at my house tonight," he raises his eyebrow keeping his smirk.

"Its Wednesday. How about I sleep over Friday? I'll sleep over the whole weekend if you want just please talk to her," I let go of his arm and he nods. I walk over to Joe and pull him aside. I wait till I see Ryan pull Claudia out of the police station to begin talking to him.

**Next Day: Thursday, Day 11**

Claudia's POV:

I walk out of my bedroom and drag my feet all the way to the kitchen. I haven't been able to sleep, not because of what happened with Joe, but with what Ryan said to me. He was awkward with every word, but he made me understand why I should give Joe a chance. I don't know, I just need some coffee and then to go off to work. Being around clients will get my mind off things. I turn on my coffee maker and lean against the counter to wait. I hear the sound of metal hitting and then see a puppy run over to me.

It wags its butt looking up at me. I bend down and pick it up confused. He licks my face causing me o have to hold me arms length out. I stare it him confused. Why is there a dog in my apartment? I hold him back close to me and leave the kitchen. I walk over to the pullout bed/couch in the living room where Kaitlin is still asleep. I set the dog down on the bed and sit on the edge of it. I start to push her arm but she just pulls the blanket off her head.

"Kait, wake up," I keep pushing her. She pulls the blanket away and stares at me like she is about to kill me. "Morning. I'm going to work soon. Why is there a dog in my apartment?" I ask her softly.

She sits up and looks at the puppy. The puppy runs into her arms. "When I was walking to Ryan's house I found him. I named him Rocco. I want to keep him," she kisses the small animal on the head.

"I can't have pets here. If someone sees him I'll get kicked out. He needs to go. I'm so sorry Kai," I truly feel bad. I wouldn't mind her keeping him here until she went back to Vermont. It wouldn't matter to me. I just don't want to lose my apartment.

"Are you serious? What am I suppose to do with him?" she juts out her bottom lip.

"I bet if you have sex with Ryan he'd keep him at his house," I smile and she makes a disgusted face. "I only said that because I heard him ask you to spend the night. I think he likes you," I smile and playfully nudge her.

"I'm blond, of course he does. I'll figure out something. I'm not sleeping with him. This puppy is the reason I have a date with Ian today too. I should get ready. You want to shower first?" she sets the dog aside and stands up on the pull out bed.

"I already showered. I wish you luck with the dog. I'll see you later," I smile and walk into the kitchen. I smile again glad to see that the coffee is ready. I pour myself a cup and leave the apartment. I take a few sips burning my tongue as I walk to my car. I click it back and forth trying to speed up the healing process knowing its useless. I'll have to live with a burned tongue for the day.

I keep the radio at a low volume to keep the noise soothing. After yesterday I am not really in the mood for going to work or leaving the house. I want to break down crying but there is really no reason to. I know Joe smokes pot and it shouldn't have been so surprising to me that he took out a blunt. Ugh, whatever. Its over. In the past. I need to forget it.

Once I get to the salon I look at my client list seeing it will be a long day. This should help me get my mind off things. I can handle this. There is no reason to stress over something so simple. Client one, help me clear my mind.

Kaitlin's POV:

Walking out of Claudia's apartment I hid Rocco in my tote bag so none of her neighbors see him. I take him out the second we reach the park. I kneel down next to him to put on his leash.

"Kait," I look up to see Ian with a friendly golden retriever.

I smile and stand up. "Hey. Wow, Skywalker is even more beautiful in person," I say looking down at the golden retriever. He wags his tail and barks at me. My eyes fall on Rocco and I sighs not wanting to have to give him up. I just got the cute little puppy. We have a special bond now just because I had saved him.

"Hey," Ian mumbles and places his hand on my arm. I look up at him and weakly smiles. "You alright?" he asks staring into my eyes.

I look down at Rocco again and shake my head. "Claudia can't have pets at her apartment so I have to get rid of Rocco. She told me that Ryan would probably let me if I slept with him but that isn't happening. As cool as it would be to let Ryan take my virginity-" my eyes grow wide and I bite my lip cutting myself off. That wasn't suppose to slip out. "Uh yeah. So, yeah," I begin to cough like it with cover up everything I just said.

"I don't think its cool. A lot of girls must be able to say that," he smiles and nudges me. He starts to chuckle softly then bends down and pets Rocco. "I can take care of him. I would actually really like to. Plus it gives Skywalker a playmate," Ian smiles.

I bend down next to him and wrap my arms around him tightly. He stumbles back falling over with me landing on top of him. I roll off him and lay on the grass. "It will only be until September 1st. That's the day I leave. Are you sure though?" I look over to my side and see Ian lying next to me. He smiles then shrieks as Skywalker attacks his face with licks. I giggle and then Rocco jumps on my stomach. "Ugh," I groan and he jumps off.

"I'm sure, its okay, I promises," Ian starts laugh holding his hands over his face so Skywalker will stop licking him. I perch myself up on my elbows and watch the dog lie down next to Ian. Rocco snuggles into my leg making me smile. Ian looks up at me removing his hands from his face and sighs happily. "You have a really beautiful smile," he mirrors me and leans back on his elbows.

I look away from him and blush. "Coming from the man with one of the greatest smiles ever," I giggle softly and look back at him. "Thanks." Ian smiles and moves a little bit closer to me. I look down at Rocco. He is breathing heavy. "Expect me to be at your house like every second of every day," I move up so I am leaning on my hands instead of my elbows.

"I'm fine with that. I like company," he chuckles. He leans back and goes back to lying down. I figure I should too and lie back down.

I look up at the sky then close my eyes. I take a deep breath petting Rocco's head slowly. I liked this, a lot. I have a friend and a place to keep Rocco for a little while. I start to smile to myself content with all of this.

"What are you thinking about right now?" Ian mutters. I roll my neck so I am facing him and open my eyes. "You look really happy right now," he adds.

I sit up leaning back on my hands. "I am happy. I'm just thinking about how awesome you are to help me out. You're great. Thank you. And like, I don't know. I've liked you but actually meeting you and being around you makes me like you like you. You're just nice. I feel comfortable around you now that we've worked everything out with me not wanting to run away from you," I ramble on.

Ian places his hand on my arm then rubs it down to my hand and keeps it there. I stare at it for a second then up at him then back down. He rubs his thumb against the back of my hand. I pull it away and stand up.

Rocco barks and springs up to his feet. I put my hair behind my ear nervously then tug at the dog leash. "Uh, I'm going to run," I say frantically then start to run away from Ian. I look over my shoulder and see him and Skywalker coming after Rocco and me. So much for not running away anymore...

Claudia's POV:

My feet start to kill me and all I want to do is sit down but I have client after client giving me no time relax. I go into the back room to mix up a hair dye and when I come back out Joe is standing near my station talking to my client that is sitting in my chair. I hesitate for a minute having the idea that I should turn back and come back out like this isn't really happening.

Joe pushes himself away from my counter at the sight of me and my client looks over at me. She looks back at Joe, says something, then stands up. She comes over to me with a wide smile. "I'm going use the restroom. Be right back," she tells me then walks past me.

I take a deep breath and walk towards my station. I set the hair dye done then look around the shop. Joe clears his throat and I finally bring myself to look at him. "Hey," I weakly smile and have to look away again.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday. I needed to see you to straight everything out," he steps closer to me making me look back at him.

"I'm working. I'm sorry but maybe later," I mumble.

"Claudia please," he places his hand on my arm then drops it quickly. "Yesterday, I don't know what was going through my mind. I just for some reason thought that you wouldn't care. I thought it was okay to do when it really wasn't. I smoke because it helps me deal with a lot of things. I was nervous. I needed to be relaxed," he stops and sighs before starting up again. "I want to look past this. I want to stop turning to pot. I don't want something stupid to ruin our relationship. I'm not even sure what our relationship was, but I like having you to talk to. I've opened up to you. Its nice," he stops and I can tell he is finished.

I don't want to just drop him. He was a good person to open up with. He would listen to everything and help without trying to compare it to something else. He just seemed like he understood everything. "I like talking to you. I get out late today. Maybe tomorrow we can do something, like that movie idea at your house," I tell him and he instantly smiles.

"We can have Ryan and Kaitlin join us too," he chuckles.

"I think she is become close with Ian now. They have a little date today," I smile and look over to see that my client is coming back to my station. "I have to get to work," I tell Joe.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later. And, I'm to quit. I don't need that in my system," he tells me softly. I gasp.

"Joe, you don't have to. Really. I don't care whether you do or don't," I say.

"I want to. It will be good for me. I promise," he smiles again then walks away before I can even say anything.